This invention relates to snowblowers and particularly to a construction of auger therefore. Snowblowers have been known for many years comprising a rotatable auger and means for moving the auger towards the snow so that as it rotates it moves the snow axially towards the opening of a suction fan which acts to collect the snow from the auger and blow it out to a remote location. One example of such an apparatus is disclosed in Canadian Pat. No.: 578,032 in which the auger has blades which are angled relative to the shaft in one direction adjacent the other end of the auger and in another direction adjacent the other end so that the snow is moved by rotation of the auger towards the middle of the shaft at which point it is collected by the fan and blown out to the remote location. Such a snowblower can be mounted on wheels for being pushed by hand or it can be arranged for connection to a vehicle such as a tractor as shown in the above patent.
One serious problem which arises in relation to apparatus of this type is that the blades can come into contact with solid objects in the path to be cleared of snow that is either any unevenesses in the ground to be cleared or any separate objects buried within the snow and invisible to the operator. Such solid objects can cause serious damage in that if they are sufficiently unyielding they will bend or break the blades of the auger thus putting it out of action or reducing its efficiency. Furthermore if the object is broken up by the blade the pieces can cause further damage by being sucked into the fan and even by being ejected from the fan.